The Egyptian Cassation Court refused the appeal of the dissident ex-MP, Ahmed Tantawi, against the National Elections Committee that declared him a loser in the 2020 parliamentary elections.

Tantawi’s lawyer, Esam Islambouli, expressed frustration at the court’s ruling as the court failed to get the poll papers in Tantawi’s constituency after the committee had refused to deliver documents to the court over the past two years without justifications. It is noteworthy that the law obligates the committee to respond to the courts’ requirements and rulings.

Islambouli added they presented to the court the official records of 221 poll stations showing Tantawi was the real winner in the runoff versus the state-sponsored Nation’s Future Party candidate. The court demanded the National Elections Committee deliver the official elections records in that constituency, but the committee did not respond. Islambouli pointed out they demanded the court to consider the case as an “administrative conflict”, which either gives the court the right to rule against the committee because of not responding to the court’s demands or gives Tantawi the right to complain to the committee before the administrative courts. Still, the court did not respond to the lawyer’s demands. The lawyer complained of the court’s non-adherence to the constitution’s provision that election appeals must be concluded within 60 days of the request. The court considered the constitutional provision an organizational matter that is not obligatory.

The parliamentary elections of 2020 witnessed dozens of complaints of poll fraud in favour of the state-sponsored Nation’s Future Party candidates. Still, the National Elections Committee refused the complaints. The administrative courts refused the appeals, saying it is not assigned to review the committee’s decisions.